A giant 3.5 meter dung statue of a rooster is gracing the street of the remote Siberian village where the residents developed a taste for Chinese zodiac manure creations erected annually by a local farmer-artist.

The huge rooster statue, the Chinese zodiac symbol for 2017, was carved out by Mikhail Bopposov with the help of his brothers in Yakutia (Sakha Republic). Locals had to persuade the artist to complete his masterpiece on time, as Bopposov suffered a leg injury and was unable to carry the heavy dung work on his own.

Standing proud at 3.5 meters tall and 4.2 meter wide in Walba village, the manure made rooster was erected at the very end of 2016, just in time for the New Year. Now the New Year mascot has become a local tourist attraction.

Bopposov, who is a building caretaker at the village school, started carving out of manure in 2008, first making a dung strong tank. He then moved on to erect Chinese Zodiac signs over the years creating giant snakes, dragons and chimpanzees to mark each coming new year.

While the 56-year-old artist also does snow and ice sculpting, dung is his preferred material for his annual sculptures, as it is easier to mold in Yakutia’s below-zero temperatures. The sculpture is expected to melt with the first warm sun rays that arrive in spring.